Which Current Films Should One Stock Up On Now?

[25asa]

I do have some other film for sale however dull and boring it is. Make me a bid- do I hear ten? Twenty? :P

[scott_eaton]

<I>I'd hate to see 4x5 film go as its the one format that is still in wide use that digital can't touch in quality</i><P>Somebody has obviously never used a Phase-One, along with not being able to spell.

[andre_noble4]

personal attack

[User_502260]

Last week my best friend cleaned out his freezer. The refrigerator had to be repaired and he finally decided to get rid of the film he knew he would never use. When we had lunch he gave me a large plastic bag full of film. How much film? After I cataloged it the number came to 111. Of this number, 36 rolls were not in canisters or boxes. They were just in a plastic bag. The rest were in their original boxes. The oldest film in a box was some Technical Pan from 1982. The newest was some Ektachrome 100 speed slide film from 1999. Seeing all of these films was like going back in time. Remember Lumiere 100, PJA 100 or Rapid Process Copy?

 

As long as printing paper is still being made we will be able to at least process and print black and white photos the traditional way. Film and paper processing chemicals can be made from the raw chemicals. Once printing paper is out of production we might be able to scan our negatives and make prints digitally. Eventually this will come to an end too. At a certain point, when most new images are created digitally, scanners will themselves go out of production or will become garder to get. Museums will still have a need for them and maybe the budget for them too.

 

It doen't make sense to stockpile films like Kodachrome because in the not too distant future, after Kodachrome is dicontinued, processing for it will become unavailable. I agree that C-41 film/processing will be around for a while, at least in the 35mm size. What I see happening is that lovers of traditional black & white photography will stock up on their favorite black & white films and that the films will be used until photographic printing paper and scanners are both gone. During this time, the color work we do will transition to digital equipment. Some people may want to stock up on E-6 and C-41 developing chemistry but I don't know what kind of shelf life these chemicals have. I think there are powder chemicals available for C-41 processing.

 

When Kodak discontinued Panatomic-X so many years ago we were told that TMX was a good replacement. Good work can be done with TMX but I liked Panatomic a lot more. Now we are being told that TMX is a replacement for Technical Pan. In a few years Kodak will have only 2 black & white films: TMX and TMY. Chromogenic film may last longer; as long s C-41 lasts. I hope I am a lot older when I take my last film photo and that I can be creative with digital equipment at that time.

 

Jeff Adler

[pensacolaphoto]

Black&White film will never vanish and processing is also there.

[rowland_mowrey]

Part of what is missed is the fact that an ISO 100 film of today can be as fine grained and as sharp as an ISO 25 film of 50 years ago. Therefore, when someone says that current Tri X can be used instead of Panatomic X, they may be right. IDK for sure, having never made that crossover, but it is possible.

 

I know that T-Grain technology was a major breakthrough in speed/grain for all kinds of film and this has made some of the finer grained films obsolete.

 

Again, short of running the tests myself, IDK if the above comparison is fair, but I know that in the case of 400 speed color films, a film of that speed today is about equal to a 100 speed film of 30 years ago.

 

Regards.

 

Ron Mowrey

[randrew1]

When the time comes, I'm going to stock up on Kodachrome 64. Rocky Mountain Color Lab claims they can still run Process K-12. I'll bet they start offering K-14 when the current labs shut down. I know this film keeps well when frozen. I recently cleaned out the freezer and shot a 20 year old roll. It looks good.

 

I will not bother hoarding any film that is 400 speed or faster. A freezer wont stop background radiation.

[karl_lehmann]

<I>"A freezer wont stop background radiation"</I><P>Of course not, that's why it's best to install your freezer in a lead vault. An abandoned salt mine is even better.

[jeff_drew4]

Make sure you buy films based on your gear . . . or "why did I stock up on sheet film

when my LF gear left 3 years ago! Oh sheet!"

[User_502260]

Dear Ron:

 

Rocky Mountain Film Lab does indeed process K12 film but only to get a black & white image. How much does it cost? About $30 per roll! Rocky Mountain does not process K14 film to make color slides. It does not make sense for you to stockpile Kodachrome film because processing for it will not be available that much longer. When the volume at Dwayne's in Kansas falls below a certain level it will not make sense for them to continue to offer the service. This is what happened at A&I.

 

There is very little projection printing of slides being done because Kodak and Fuji discontinued their Type R papers. If you shoot plain Kodak Elite Chrome 100 slide film and scan the slides, you can then make prints with any color preference that appeals to you. Elite Chrome is about the least expensive slide film you can get. It has very fine grain and a neutral color balance. It is an E-6 type film so many labs can process it. Two labs which have mailers and which do good work are A&I and Fuji. If you project your slides then you will not get the exact look you have with Kodachrome but you can still have a very good look.

 

I read that Kodak is discontinuing the sale of Kodachrome films in some markets (Australia). Processing should be available for a while after the film is discontinued but not a long while. For this reason I would recommend that you buy only as much Kodachrome as you are likely to use in the next year. You will see that the Ektachrome and Fuji slide films are also very good.

 

Jeff Adler

[rowland_mowrey]

AFAIK, Fuji still produces and markets type "R" paper. It is listed in stock at most mail order photo dealers. The chemistry is another matter. I cannot find it listed anywhere.

 

Ilfochrome is still available.

 

Ron Mowrey

[ian_greant]

<i>Am I reading the gist of the responses on here correctly - when a film is discontinued the processing is also discontinued? When Kodak stops production of Tech pan they will also stop production of HC-110, D-76 etc? Those who have bragged of still having rolls of Ektar 25 in their freezers should throw it out to make room for pork chops since it can no longer be processed? </i>

<p>

uhhh no, Kodachrome will most likely go the way of the dodo since the K-14 process is rather complicated and not suited (to my knowledge) for small lab use.

<p>

Films like Ektar 25 are C41 process which even if kodak stopped selling premixed chemicals the recipes for C41 are commonly available and you could mix them yourself and process in your own darkroom.

<p>

Same goes for b&w.